Sexual harassment case
There were two really scary front page news stories in Thursday's Star: one on al-Qaida and one on UMKC's response to blatant sexual harassment (7/12, A-1, "UMKC settles women's lawsuit"). I will address the latter.
As I was hurriedly reading through the article to make some sense of the university's response to the horrific working conditions in the psychology lab, I came across the words "large revenue generators of the university," referring to the professors involved.
In the business world, money is often the end-all as profits soar at the expense of just about anything. But we cannot tolerate this kind of mentality anywhere, especially in a community of learning, where respect for each individual should be the highest priority.
Although I am the mother of two sons, as a parent I feel a kinship with the mothers of daughters who still feel powerless in the face of such discrimination; such awful and inexcusable behavior. And, what's with the professors' promotions and raises? When many would have been disgusted if the people involved got just a "slap on the hand," we should now be outraged that they got a "pat on the back."
Ellen Davidson
Independence
Did I read the same letter to the editor as Mr. Lewis? He appears to read alot into it that was not there. The writer stated that both were scary, not equal. I saw no mention of "capital crime". Sensationalism? Hardly. Unfortunately, most women have been affected by sexual harassment in some form. I must agree with the writer that this is an issue that needs to be addressed, and, I, for one hope that she and many others do not "get over it".
Posted by: nths2gthr | Jul 19, 2007 6:50:28 PM
Ken, I am in no position to tell any one, particularly a woman, what she should be terrified of.
Posted by: irishguy | Jul 17, 2007 1:34:29 PM
So she considers sexual harassment equal to terrorism. Perhaps we should send the professors involved to Guantanamo Bay? Everthing cannot be made to be a capital crime.
I wonder how she would like to
debate her opinion with the survivors of 9/11 or the families of those who died there.
Yes the treatment at UMKC was wrong and out of line, but get over it Ms Davidson. Our society has had enough sensationalism.
Posted by: Joe Six-Pack | Jul 16, 2007 9:57:16 AM